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Table of Contents
Page
Embassy Award
Institute Update
Photo Essay
Random Survey
INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY
HORN ARCHAEOLOGICAL
MUSEUM
NEWSLETTER
Paul J. Ray, Jr. Editor
David Merling Assoc. Editor
Randall W. Younker Assoc. Editor
Darrell J. Rohl Asst. Editor
The Newsletter is published four times a
year by the Institute of Archaeology,
Andrews University. Annual subscription
price is $7.50. Museum membership,
subscription, and editorial correspon-
dence should be addressed to the Horn
Archaeological Museum, Institute of
Archaeology, Andrews University,
Berrien Springs, MI 49104-0990,
Telephone 269-471-3273, Fax 269-471-
3619, e-mail hornmusm@andrews.edu.
Volume 27.2
Spring 2006
ISSN 1095-2837
Embassy Awards Grant to Hesban
The United States Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation recently gave a $45,750
grant to the Andrews University Hesban archaeological project in the country of Jordan. The
Ambassador’s Fund awards projects that protect sites and artifacts of cultural or historical signifi-
cance in countries in need of assistance. Since its inception in 2001, the Fund has given money to
projects in 106 nations.
Hesban was one of two sites in Jordan to receive the award at a special signing ceremony at
Tall Hesban on September 29, 2005. The award will be used to restore various areas of Tall Hesban
including part of the citadel erected during the Iron Age and used throughout the Hellenistic period,
as well as the Roman plaza and a Byzantine church. The site will also be made more accessible to
tourists and tour buses, enabling the site to become more educational to its visitors.
The US Embassy of Jordan Chargé d’Affairs, David Hale, signed the award. Randall Younker,
director of the Institute of Archaeology at Andrews University, represented both the University and
the Hesban Project and presented a speech on behalf of the director of the Hesban Project, ØysteinLaBianca, who is professor of Anthropology at Andrews. The Mayor of the town of Hesban, KhalilDabbas, and the Provincial Governor of Hesban, Ahmad Khatatbeh, also attended the ceremony.
The archaeological site of Hesban has been excavated since 1968, when Siegfried Horn, anAndrews University archeologist, began work at the site. Lawrence Geraty, then of Andrews, andmore recently LaBianca have continued work at the site. Andrews University has also beeninvolved at several other archaeological sites in Jordan. (Andrew Gerard)
Randall Younker (second from right) at the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation ceremony.
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Newsletter 27.2 color.qxp 10/31/2006 2:37 PM Page 1
Recently (Newsletter 26.4: 2005)
we reported on some of the activities and
new personnel of the Institute of
Archaeology/Siegfried H. Horn Museum
since the move to its new location. In this
article we would like to continue to bring
our readers up to date on these aspects of
our work.
Dr. Kathy Koudele, the bone special-
ist of the Jalul excavations, has set up a
Bone Lab at the Institute, where for the
past academic year several students have
been cleaning and processing the bones
on which she is doing scientific study in
preparation for publication. Darrell Rohl,
an undergraduate student in Archaeology,
in addition to being the assistant to the
director of publications, has done consid-
erable work on updating the Institute/
Museum website, which now has a brand
new look. He has also been scanning the
objects from the 2005 season at Jalul
with a Konica Minolta Vivid 9i 3D
Digitizer and putting some of the Hesban
data into a Geographic Information Sys-
tem (GIS) database for future analysis.
Pedro Ribeiro, an undergraduate in
Physics, has been developing a new
excavation database, which when com-
pleted will have the ability to be manipu-
lated in the field and have the data stored
on a server.
Patrick Mazani, a PhD student in
Archaeology, has been updating object
data to the accession database of the
Museum; Jeremy Jacko, an MDiv student,
has been helping Dr. Øystein LaBianca
with grant writing; Derrick Whitlow, an
MA student in Archaeology, has been
entering the Jalul data into a GIS data-
base; and Kristy Witzel, who has recently
earned her BA in Anthropology, has been
helping Dr. LaBianca prepare material for
the forthcoming book Ethnoarchaeologi-cal Foundations: Hesban 4.
Several undergraduate students,
through Andrews University’s undergrad-
uate research assistantship program, have
been developing Dr. LaBianca’s concept
of using civilizations and empires to bet-
ter understand the dynamics of the inter-
actions between Great and Little
Traditions. Out of this LaBianca has
developed his own broadened definition
of civilization. Andrew Gerard has been
trying to understand past concepts and
definitions of civilizations in relationship
to LaBianca’s research. Using LaBianca’s
definition as a starting point, Ehren
Lichtenwalter has done further work on
Greek Civilization, Darrell Rohl on
Roman Civilization and Benjamin Oliver
on Jewish Civilization. All of this
research has ultimately been done for the
purpose of getting a better window on
how the local populations of Jordan (the
Little Tradition) functioned during the
advent of each of these civilizations or
empires. Each of these students have pre-
sented their work in an on-campus lecture
series. In addition, Rohl and Gerard have
recently presented papers on their work at
the Annual Meeting of the Central States
Anthropological Society, a regional sec-
tion of the American Anthropological
Association.
Two other undergraduate students
have been functioning as technological
assistants in the Hesban Research Lab.
Kathleen Schwartz has been digitizing the
Hesban photos and Jennifer Castillo coor-
dinating the Madaba Plains Project web
site. (Paul J. Ray, Jr.)
Photo Essay
Dr. Kathy Koudele. Darrell Rohl. Pedro Ribeiro.
Institute Update
Newsletter 27.2 color.qxp 10/31/2006 2:37 PM Page 2
Patrick Mazani.
Kristy Witzel.
Benjamin Oliver.
Jeremy Jacko. Derrick Whitlow.
Andrew Gerard. Ehren Lichtenwalter.
Kathleen Schwartz. Jennifer Castillo.
Newsletter 27.2 color.qxp 10/31/2006 2:38 PM Page 3
2000 year-old Road in Paris:
Archaeologists have discovered a
2000 year-old road beneath a path
on left bank of the Seine in Paris. In
this city, known as Lutetia in Pre-
Roman and Roman Gaul, ruins were
found that date back to the time of
Roman emperor Augustus (63 BC -
14 AD). Along with the discovery
of the road are remnants of houses
with private baths and heated floors.
Other items such as flowerpots,
ceramics, and bronze chains were
also found. The first houses were
made of clay and straw, with those
made of masonry and tiled roofs
appearing later.
Palace on Salamis Found:
A 750 square meter Mycenaean-era complex from the 13th century BC has been located on the
island of Salamis, near Athens, Greece. The complex was built on 4 levels and had at least 33
rooms. Artifacts from Anatolia, Cyprus, and Egypt have been excavated at the site.
Tablets Found in Iraq:
A team of Italian archeaologists headed by Sylvia
Chiodi have discovered numerous tablets at an
archaeological site close to the ancient city of Ur.
Giovanni Pettinato, an expert in Sumerian civili-
zation, estimates that they date from 2700-2100 BC.
Ancient Egyptian Ship:
Archaeologists have discov-
ered the remains of a 4,000
year-old Egyptian cargo
ship while excavating five
caves near the Red Sea port
town of Safaga. Seals from
the era of Pharaoh
Mentuhotep III (2133-1991
BC) have been uncovered.
The ship carried a cargo of
wooden boxes covered with
gypsum, bearing the inscrip-
tion, “Wonders of the land
of Punt.” Other artifacts
include 80 coils of rope and
many sherds dating to the
reign of Mentuhotep III.
The exact location of Punt,
a source of incense, ivory,
and ebony, is unknown.
To discover more about archaeology, the
Institute, and the Museum, contact us at:
VOX: 269-471-3273
FAX: 269-471-3619
E-mail: hornmusm@andrews.edu
or visit our Web site at:www.andrews.edu/archaeology
The Institute of
ARCHAEOLOGYSiegfried H. Horn MuseumAndrews University, Berrien Springs, MI 49104-0990Address Service Requested
Non-profit Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 5
Berrien Springs, MI 49103
Saudi Arabian Stonehenge:
In Rajajil, Saudi Arabia, a town that is near the Jordanian border,
there is an interesting pattern of stones that remind the observer of
England’s Stonehenge. The 50 groups of 5 pillars stand clustered
on the edge of the Nafud Desert in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
Archaeologists have dated the stones, some of which have graffiti
that link them to Pre-Islamic deities like the female goddess Widd,
to 3000 BC, though there is no ceramic evidence to support this.
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